Post-Practice Notes: Johnson suffers upper body injury in practice

*Dan Bylsma, as expected, confirmed that Chris Kunitz and Dustin Jeffrey will not be in the lineup this weekend. Both, however, appear on track to return at somepoint this week.

*Mark Letestu is on a fast track to returning to the lineup. The sense is he could be cleared to intensify his skating next week.

*As others are inching closer to good health, another injury pops up for the Penguins. Nick Johnson left today’s practice with an upper body injury, Bylsma said.

If Johnson is unavailable for this weekend (he’s considered doubtful), Pittsburgh will be down to 11 forwards as the team re-assigned Tim Wallace yesterday. The team is expected to make another callup.

Meanwhile, Arron Asham’s return is not close and he’s at least a few weeks away.

The Penguins had been listing Arron day-to-day for sometime now, but Bylsma admitted that’s not accurate. “Day-to-day is not accurate at this point in time, ” Bylsma said. “He {Arron Asham} has been progressing…….He hasn’t gone to exercise. That’s where Arron’s at”